<p>I was recently on the Stanford early action admissions threads, and the vast majority of the accepted applicants did not take a 4th year of language. On the Harvard threads, however, it seems that essentially everyone had a language class is their senior year courseloads. Does Harvard have a unique view on this? How about other top schools like MIT, Princeton, etc.?</p>
<p>The reason I'm asking is because - as a result of various graduation requirements - I'm left with the following choice to make for my senior year: I have to select two classes out of AP stats, AP psych, and Honors Spanish V (currently taking AP spanish 4). H. Spanish V is literally the same class as AP Spanish 4, by the way, so I wouldn't be learning anything new. From what I've heard neither AP psych nor AP stats commands much respect from admissions officers. The rest of my schedule is tentatively: AP CS, AP Eng, AP phys, P.E., linear algebra @ a university).</p>
<p>Personally I'd probably prefer to take AP psych, but don't have a strong affinity for either course. I'm going in as a hard science major - likely biophysics - so neither really contributes toward my career goals. </p>
<p>tl;dr Basically I have two questions:
1. What does a 4th year of language add to the Harvard application, and is it worth it in my case? (consider that I have already taken AP Spanish 4.)
2. What will be looked upon more highly: AP Psych or AP stats? (consider that I will also be taking linear algebra at a university, so my math requirement is fulfilled; if I don't take AP psych I will also take a one semester regular sociology class to fulfill my school's requirement.)</p>
<p>One thing worth considering is that it’s the norm at a lot of school districts, especially competitive ones, to take at least one year of language in middle school. So at my high school, almost everybody took four years of a foreign language, but only took three in high school. This is fine for competitive college admissions.</p>
<p>Take what you want to take and think would be more interesting or useful to learn about? It’s not like you’re trying to decide between quantum mechanics and scrapbook-making taught by the football coach.</p>
<p>I will save gibby the trouble of pointing out that there are at least a gazillion(more likely a gajillion or umptillion) posts on this topic and it would be best to use the search function.</p>
<p>also:
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<p>Harvard doesn’t really care what your career goals are as a 17 year old, because they will almost certainly change. Similarly, you don’t “go in” as anything because you declare your concentration when you’re almost halfway done with college! So I wouldn’t suggest planning your high school classes around a uniform goal either. You should plan your courses around what’s rigorous and what you are interested in.</p>
<p>^Ah, ok - that makes more sense. My school doesn’t offer AP Spanish Literature, just a repeated version of AP Spanish 4 that they call Honors Spanish V. I was pretty set on not taking Spanish next year until I read through the SCEA thread and saw that pretty much everyone who was accepted was taking a language their senior year. </p>
<p>@DwightEisenhower I have read through a number of previous threads on the topic but mostly just found people citing anecdotes of random applicants they know who did/didn’t get into Harvard, which doesn’t help me much. </p>
<p>You should balance rigor with interest. If your schedule is almost all APs already, plus linear algebra, Psych vs Stats isn’t going to influence your overall rigor very much. So I’d say pick whichever you’d enjoy the most.</p>
<p>If you are taking AP spanish exam this year, you are considered to have completed 4 years of high school spanish. Your transcript should show completion of 4 years of high school spanish even if you may have done one of those years in midle school.</p>